Things I'll Never Say
by DixonVixen93
Summary: Post "Welcome To The Tombs". Things are starting to settle down, and Carol sees an opportunity that she cannot refuse anymore. Caryl.


**Hey guys! This little fic takes place post "Welcome To The Tombs". Things are starting to settle down, and Carol sees an opportunity that she cannot refuse anymore. **

**I do not own The Walking Dead. **

_**Things I'll Never Say**_

Carol Peletier had lost many things in life, but she hadn't lost her mind. She knew what she wanted, whom she wanted, and why she wanted it. She was in love with Daryl Dixon, and had been for quite some time now. He had been adamant about going to rescue Sophia, even if he had been all in vain. He had even been empathetic about Ed's abuse towards her. They both had matching scars, it seemed.

Daryl had been there for her after Sophia came out of that barn, even if she hadn't been grateful for it at the time. Now it was her turn to be there for him after he had lost his brother. She wanted so bad to just pull him over towards her and plant a kiss on his lips, but she was just too afraid of rejection! Though, given whom she was in love with, she would _have _to be the one to make the first move. She had tried before, but she had said it too jokingly. That was why, when she grabbed his hand before the war with Woodbury began, she squeezed his hand with all of her mite. She wanted him to know that she was there for him, and that everything would be okay, even though it really wasn't.

The redneck hardly hesitated to smile back at her. It was a tiny smile, but it was still there. He wanted to tell her how much he loved her, and how he would do anything for her. He just _couldn't_ say it.

After everything had finally started to calm down again, Carol found her potential love-interest standing outside the prison block, leaning against the wall and taking a few drags. The grey-haired woman rarely ever saw Daryl smoking a cigarette. When she saw it for the first time, it actually had shocked her. Not that it should have, but it apparently had.

She came out towards him, folding her arms across her chest as the chill in the air whipped around the corner of the building. Daryl took another quick puff and simply nodded to Carol.

"Hey," she told him, smiling lightly.

"Hey," he greeted right back. The redneck noticed her shivering and quickly shrugged out of his jacket, handing it over to her. "Look like ya could use this."

Carol quickly slipped it on, reveling in the fact that it smelt like Daryl. "Thank you," she breathed, hugging herself to keep warm.

"What're ya doin' out here, woman? Shouldn't ya be dealing with the old people and youngens?" Daryl questioned, a smirk playing at his lips.

"I suppose I could," the widow shrugged, "but I decided to come out and look for you."

"Huh," Dixon took in another drag, offering the carton of cigarettes to Carol.

"World of no," she responded, shaking her hand dismissively.

"A'right," Daryl tucked the carton back into his pocket and shifted onto his other foot, "ya shouldn't be smokin' anyways. Bad for ya."

Carol just scoffed. "Uh-huh. And explain to me why you're smoking then?"

The redneck just shrugged. "Dunno. Been doing it for years. Don' bother me none."

The widow bumped her shoulder with his playfully. "Come back inside, Daryl. It's really not so bad."

Daryl flicked the cigarette butt onto the ground and put it out by scuffing it into the pavement. "Okay, if you say so…" he grunted uncomfortably.

He went to move, and Carol just put her hand on his chest to stop him for a moment. His blue eyes bored into hers, suddenly nervous about what she was going to say next.

"Hey," Carol whispered, eyelashes fluttering as she tried to say the right words. "Daryl, I need to—" She huffed impatiently as the words just wouldn't come to her, "oh screw it." The widow bucked up and pecked at his lips once. She glanced up at him, gauging if it was okay with him to continue or not.

The redneck wrapped an arm around Carol and murmured something along the lines of "come here, woman". She just pressed herself closer and kissed him again, which was finally reciprocated.

Once their lips broke apart, the two just spent a moment leaning against each other. Daryl wasn't used to this at all. Truth be told, he had never had a girlfriend before. Women were something like foreign territory to the redneck, but with Carol, it was different. It felt right. She made him feel like a man; hell, she always had.

Daryl chuckled to himself, which brought the grey-haired woman to look at him strange. He quickly kissed her temple and rasped down at her, "Merle's probably flippin' in his damn grave right about now. He had been buggin' me about getting wiv ya for a while. The annoying bastard." Just 'cause he had himself a girlfriend at the prison didn't mean that he could try to score one for his little brother too. Maybe he hadn't wanted one to begin with. Of course, then Daryl looked down at Carol and began to realize that his brother had had a point trying to get them together.

Carol snuggled closer to her redneck and responded quietly, "Well, at least he knows that his brother will be happy now." She peeked up at him and smiled, "right?"

"Yeah," the crossbow-wielding hunter agreed, rubbing her back softly. "C'mon, let's get ya back inside before the others start to worry."

The widow nodded and began to keep up with his pace as they retreated to the prison. She looked over at Daryl and asked, "Daryl, we don't have to keep this to ourselves do we?"

"Not unless you want to," the redneck grunted in reply, glancing down at the grey-haired woman once.

"I wouldn't dream of it. Maggie and Glenn are open about theirs. So were Rick and Lori. Michonne and Merle were… some," Carol thought about that for a moment. The latter two had only recently begun a relationship, which just showed that no one was safe during the apocalypse. The widower wanted Daryl to be hers for as long as possible. And she wanted everyone to know it, too.

"A'right," Daryl just shrugged, heading into the prison right after his… girlfriend, right? Oh, this was gonna take some real getting used to.

**Poor Daryl. We love ya anyways. **

**That's it for me, guys! Reviews are loved! Check out my other stories if ya'll are interested. I have two series reboots, two Merle/Michonne fics, and a parody about Rick's "stuff" and "things". **


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